This invention relates to connectors for attaching cables and other objects to a load to be lifted, pulled or otherwise subjected to force by means of the connector.
The desire has existed since prehistoric times to move objects heavier and more unwieldy than an individual can lift and carry. Efforts to answer this need also predate recorded history and were integral to the development of the earliest basic machines and tools, including levers, wheels, skids, rollers and utilization of animal power. While ancient humankind managed the movement of extraordinarily heavy objects, as demonstrated by the existence, for instance, of the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge, dramatic advances in this technology awaited development of combustion-based power sources, including steam and other external combustion engines and internal combustion engines. Later still, electrical motors came to the assistance of those interested in moving heavy objects.
A need persists, however, for a light weight, easily transported winch usable in locations remote from conventional power sources and vehicles, to move relatively heavy loads over relatively substantial distances, preferably with a single operator. Such a need exists, for instance, to retrieve large game from remote areas, in connection with rescue work, and in utilities installation and building construction. Numerous efforts have been undertaken to meet this need. For instance, one prior device, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,340, marries a chain saw engine to a winch mechanism. However, these efforts have not resulted in a device that is easily transported, accommodates substantial cable length, is safely operable by a single individual and exhibits other desirable features of the present invention. A winch meeting this need is disclosed in my patent application for a "Portable Winch" described above. Safe operation of such a device, particularly including single-handed operation, makes very desirable a quick release mechanism that enables an operator quickly and easily to disconnect the load from the winch cable. Such an attachment and release mechanism is needed in a substantial variety of other applications where one object, whether a chain, cable, rope, truck bumper or something else, needs to be attached to but quickly releasable from another object.
Prior devices used for releasably coupling cables, chains and other devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 227,793 to Kingston, U.S. Pat. No. 1,262,974 to Pearen, U.S. Pat. No. 1,299,821 to Carpmill and Hancock, U.S. Pat. No. 1,386,561 to Foster, U.S. Pat. No. 1,684,322 to Itjen, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,382 to Vaage. U.S. Pat. No. 124,071 to Lipsey also discloses a clothes pin having pincer-like arms that may be closed around a clothes line by sliding a thimble over the arms. Among these, U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,382 to Vaage for a "Rapid Release Hook" is specifically intended for applications similar to those of the present invention. The Vaage device is, however a more complex one in which opposed bail members are forced apart by a spring when a sleeve is retracted, and it lacks other features and advantages of the present invention.